Developing your first Ubuntu app with Quickly

Jack Deslippe

"Quickly" is a tool that allows both programming novices and developers alike to quickly make apps in Ubuntu. In this talk, we will go over the basic elements of Quickly and walk you through making a sample Ubuntu app - from "sudo apt-get install quickly" to publishing your app to your own personal package archive (PPA).

Jack Deslippe is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of California at Berkeley, studying computational Physics. He has developed apps for both the Ubuntu and Android platforms and is a member of the Ubuntu California team.

From OS X to Ubuntu

Richard Gaskin

Mac users are a different breed, and their expectations are high. Fortunately Ubuntu is up to the task.

But the road from OS X to Ubuntu is not without some bumps, and this session aims to help those coming from a Mac background make the ride as smooth as possible.

We'll start with a brief review of installation options, including running Ubuntu as a VM within your Mac, but we'll quickly get to the more daunting issues Mac users face, like how to choose among a much wider range of hardware options than you've ever known before.

Some Mac users like to get as much of a Mac-like experience from their new Ubuntu system as possible, while others prefer to dive into the Ubuntu way head first. We'll cover both, outlining the differences between the two systems and exploring some of the options like Cairo Dock to make your new Ubuntu system feel more familiar as you get started.

The command line is considered exotically geeky to most Mac users, but here we'll cover some of the basics of using Terminal to show why it's so very useful and can even be fun.

Perhaps the biggest challenge moving from Mac to Ubuntu is finding the sorts of applications you've come to rely on with your Mac, and we'll find some favorite from the Ubuntu Software Center and elsewhere, noting the strengths and weaknesses relative to their Mac counterparts.

One of the biggest differences advantages Ubuntu offers over Mac is its customization, and we'll take some time to explore some of the many ways you can personalize your system to work just the way you like, leaving plenty of time for Q&A discussion to help with any specific issues you've had in your own transition to Ubuntu.

Richard Gaskin is President of Fourth World, a software design and development consultancy in Los Angeles. Since founding the company in 1994, he's developed dozens of commercial and open source applications used by a wide range of organizations, including FedEx, AOL, the US Library of Congress, and hundreds of universities around the world.

Although he started his career with Mac OS, Richard has since delivered applications for Irix, every version of Windows, and has been developing for Linux for the last two years.

Richard has spoken at more than a dozen tech conferences, most recently discussing cross-platform GUI design at a Mac developer conference where he had the distinction of being the only presenter using Ubuntu.

Getting Involved in Unity

Ted Gould

Unity is an exciting new direction that Ubuntu is taking to revolutionize the Linux desktop. How can you get involved and become a part of it? From bugs, to code, to documentation, to helping users make the transition there is an incredible number of opportunities. Figure out how to get started on a part of the Unity program that best scratches your itch.

Ted Gould is an Ubuntu Desktop Developer on Canonical's Desktop Experience Team. He mainly focuses on usability issues working to make the Ubuntu Desktop the best desktop experience available for your computer. He also develops on the vector graphics program Inkscape. He enjoys great design, serene hikes with his family and a well composed photo.

Questions and Answers

Nathan Haines

Returning again as Master of Ceremonies, Nathan Haines will keep things running smoothly and host an open questions and answers session where you can ask your burning questions about Ubuntu, or simply do your best to stump him.

Nathan Haines is an instructor and a computer technician who has been using Linux since 1994. In addition to occasional programming projects and magazine articles, he is a member of Ubuntu, where he helps spread the word about Ubuntu and Free Software.

Finding Help in Ubuntu

Elizabeth Krumbach

One of the biggest challenges for new users coming to Ubuntu is figuring out where to find help using and doing common (and not so common!) tasks with their new operating system. This talk will cover the primary official and unofficial help resources available for users and best practices for seeking help for optimal results.

Elizabeth has been organizing Linux events since 2003 and currently works as a Debian Systems Administrator at LinuxForce.net. She is a member of the Ubuntu Community Council and spends much of her time on the project working with Ubuntu Women, Ubuntu California and organizing classes and events for Ubuntu Classroom. She also sits on the board of Partimus.org, a San Francisco Bay Area non-profit organization that provides re-purposed computers running free software to students and schools which need them.

Ubuntu for the Desktop

Ralf Pieper

Installation, usage, updates, applications. Compare to other OSs.

Ralf started out with an interest in electronics until he discovered programming, wrote code in many languages for a number of clients, did telecom, IVR, networking and finally system admin for the past decade. A member/leader at UUASC, LiLAX and USENIX, Ralph likes to windsurf in his time off.

Your Guide to Kubuntu

David Wonderly

An introduction into KDE and Kubuntu. How we have grown since the start of KDE4. Changes since the 10.04LTS release and a sneak peek into 11.04 and the future of Kubuntu. This will also include a question and answer section.

Since 2008 David Wonderly has been working on system documentation for Kubuntu and KDE. He is one of the three members of the California Local Community leadership team. He has been an activist in the United States for KDE and Kubuntu and is one of the Kubuntu Community managers trying to blend in Kubuntu with the greater Ubuntu community.

David Wonderly is Married with three kids and currently resides in San Diego, CA. He has recently separated from the US Navy and is currently looking for work.